Merriman School April Newsletter
By Gordon-Rushville Public Schools
May 07, 2008
The Old Boot
Issue #8
5/7/2008
Arbor Day
Arbor Day is a holiday celebrated all over the world. It is when people plant and care for trees. It originated in Nebraska City. It is also celebrated in Japan; it is called Greenery Day. It is usually in late April. It is also celebrated in Scotland. It is called the Scottish Branch Arbor Day. It’s celebrated on March 20-21 in Argyll, Scotland. It is celebrated in many other parts of the world.
Arbor Day was created by J. Sterling Morton of Nebraska City. He was also the editor of Nebraska’s first newspaper. He thought the lack of trees was a bad thing. Nebraska was called the “Great American Desert” because of the hotness, all the sand, and the lack of trees.
The first Arbor Day was April 10, 1874. More than 1 million trees were planted that day. April 22, Morton’s birthday, was the day Arbor Day was put on, but now it is on the last Friday in April. Morton’s home, Arbor Lodge, is now a state historical park. I hope you had a wonderful Arbor Day! -Tiffany Chappell
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The Civil War
In history I’m learning about the Civil War. Did you know that more people died during the Civil War than any other American war? Thousands of people died. In the beginning 11 states seceded, or left the United States. They declared independence and named there new country The Confederate States of America. They pronounced there president, Jefferson Davis, and there flag the “Stars and Bars.” The Confederates also known as the “Rebs” (rebels) started to destroy United States forts. They thought that these forts were a threat to there country. The last of these forts was Fort Sumter. It was a small island in the middle of the ocean. The Confederates surrounded Fort Sumter and bombarded it for more than a day. When the Union tried to supply the
fort, the Confederates made that a statement of war. They declared war on the Union. Both sides thought that the war would be short and easy. They were totally wrong. After many huge battles, the Union finally won by taking the Confederate capital, Richmond. The war lasted 4 years. Some of the major battles were: Petersburg, Bull Run, Gettysburg, Shiloh, and many more. I like history, especially the Civil War. -Garrett Shadbolt
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Speech Day
The Gordon-Rushville rural schools speech day was on April 17th. There were 16 students from Merriman participating. There were 72 total students participating on speech day. It started at 9:30 and ended around 2:30.
1st and 2nd graders did book reports or poems of their choice. 3rd through 7th grades did a speech. 8th grade did a dramatic skit about the Dust Bowl. Each grade had a topic for their speech: 3rd grade oceans, 4th grade a culture, 5th grade an invention that changed the world, 6th grade a person or an event in history ,7th grade how man has effected the environment. My speech was about airplanes. Did you know some airplanes can carry about 400 people?
I asked Tiffany what her speech was about and why she picked that topic. Tiffany said, “Space shuttles because I think space shuttles are cool, and it would be interesting for other people!” I also asked Brye what his was about. Brye’s poem was about gerbils. I asked Cody what his favorite part about making his speech was. Cody said he liked reading all the information about Annie Oakley.
My favorite part of speech day was the 8th grade skit. It was more entertaining than the speeches. I liked when the Grandma was always complaining; it was funny. Writing these speeches was a lot of work. I was really nervous and I’m really glad it’s over!
-Ariel McNare
My Calves
I have two bucket calves and I like them. One is a bull and the other one is a heifer. I got them this last summer. They were as tall as my hip. My bull calf is a little smaller than my heifer. Just before Christmas we got a self feeder for the calves, so they can get bigger. When I first got them I put them behind one of the old sheds behind the house and Quonset. The fence was not very tall. I had to make it taller, so my heifer didn’t get out. I made it taller, but she kept getting out. I just moved them to the corral. I have not had that many problems with her ever since I moved them into the corral. A month or two ago, I sold my bull calf and now I only have the heifer left. I like my calf because she gives me something to do when I am angry. I like to break ice and feed her. I have plans on butchering her. It will be sad because I enjoy having her around and the good thing about it is I get more steak. Well, that is my story about my calves. -Tucker Keiser
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April Fool’s Day
No one really knows where April Fool’s Day came from. Historians think that it began in France around 1582. The calendar changed New Year’s from April 1st to January 1st. As you probably know, communication traveled slowly back then. So, people farther away were informed several years later. Some others still celebrated the last day of the New Year on April 1st. Many people called these people fools. The people that celebrated the New Year on January 1st played tricks on the people that didn’t. The people that got tricks played on them were called poisson d”avril”, which meant they were crazy. That’s how April Fool’s Day came to be.
Mr. Krasomil played a joke on the whole school. He told us that our principal had to make the school year longer because we had missed so many days of school. We were all very disappointed, until he told us that it was just a joke. It was really funny.
-Cody Trump
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The Dirty Thirties
In 1926, people flocked to the area known as No Man’s Land to make a living growing wheat. This territory, now Kansas, Oklahoma, and parts of Colorado, and Texas, was a windy, desolate land that not much grew on but grass. For ranchers, the land was a good source of grass and space for raising cattle. Unfortunately, cattle prices were low, and many ranchers went broke. The few people living in No Man’s Land turned to growing wheat like so many others had begun. Wheat, it seemed was the best crop to grow. The nation needed lots of grain at that time and prices were high. The ground, once covered in prairie grass, was transformed into a wide expanse of golden wheat. Farmers thrived, some becoming millionaires. Wheat prices were soaring and in high demand. Planters were plowing up as much land as they could. New technology also contributed to the wild breaking of ground. New and bigger plows were invented. The tractor pulling a steel plow could till up more than double the acres of a horse and hand plow. Everyone was tilling up more and more ground, planting more and more wheat.
Everything was good. The economy and many people were thriving. Then, October 29, 1929, also know as Black Tuesday, the stock market crashed. Prices dropped dangerously low within hours. Banks went broke. No one had a job, money, or any hope of getting either. Farmers had two choices. They could stop planting and selling the wheat, and hope that supply would go down and demand, along with prices, would go up. Or, they could try to harvest more wheat to try to keep their income steady.
They chose to plow up more ground. Acres and acres of grass went under plows. Still, wheat prices were to low and farmers couldn’t afford to sell it. Also, a terrible and long drought took hold of the land. Nothing would grow. Families lived on their own grain and not much else. Rabbits were always plentiful, however. On Sundays, people would organize ‘rabbit runs.’ Skinny rabbits were slaughtered in mass numbers with clubs. There was always a bony rabbit to eat. The drought also meant that there were no roots to hold the topsoil down. When that blew away, absolutely nothing would grow.
The wind blew and the dust flew. Great, black walls of soil rose up from the ground, covering everything in a coat of dust. Dust Pneumonia infected hundreds of people. Children coughed up globs of black dirt that had contaminated their lungs. Many died. Wet rags and sheets were stuffed in window seems and under doors. Still, the dust infected everything and anything. Doorways and fences were covered by small dunes of sand. The saying ‘not being able to see the hand in front of your face’ was quite literal when a Black Blizzard or Black Roller came to visit. Some people tied a rope from their houses to themselves so if a storm suddenly blew up they could pull themselves to the house.
In 1933, President Theodore Delano Roosevelt was inaugurated. Roosevelt began the New Deal programs which were drought relief plans. They also helped with the endless problems caused by the Depression. They all had different goals, but were helping reduce the damage. These were the objectives of these goals: Providing emergency supplies, cash, livestock feed and transport to maintain the basic functioning of livelihoods and farms/ranches, establishing health care facilities and supplies to meet emergency medical needs, establishing government-based markets for farm goods, higher tariffs, loan funds for farm market maintenance and business rehabilitation, and providing the supplies, technology, and technical advice necessary to research, implement, and promote appropriate land management strategies. By 1938, things were slowly going back to normal. In 1941, rainfall was almost regular. In fact, the rapid growth led the USA to an economic boom. The depression, and the worst natural disaster in history, had finally ended.
Later, the Dust Bowl era became know as the Dirty Thirties, which seems like a perfectly fitting name. Now, farmers take precautions when tilling the earth so as not to have too big of an expanse of barren land. Hopefully, there will never be another disaster like the Dust Bowl. -Jordan Shadbolt
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What we learned in science
Hi, I’m learning about matter in 5th grade science. Matter is a solid, liquid, or a gas. Everything is made of a solid, liquid, or a gas. Water is a type of liquid. I asked Tiffany what temperature water freezes and boils at in Celsius. She said, “Water freezes a 0oC and boils at 100oC.”
While learning about matter we did this cool experiment. We used three liquids: iodine solution, vinegar, and water. We used three solids: cornstarch, talcum powder, and baking powder. We poured each of the liquids into each of the solids. We were looking for chemical or physical changes. Ariel’s favorite part was when we poured iodine on the corn starch because it turned purple. Jordan learned that when he put vinegar and baking soda together, it bubbled. When he poured water and baking powder together it didn’t do anything. When he put everything together, he didn’t know what happened because he couldn’t see it. After we got done I asked Mr. Krasomil if we could put all the solids and liquids in the same container. When we put them together there were bubbles because of the vinegar. Eva thought it was cool to see the bubbles appear because it was kind of like an explosion, but a mini one.
It also turned purple because of the iodine. On the last pour we knew iodine made a purple color and vinegar made bubbles because we did them separate first. We wouldn’t have learned anything if we wouldn’t have done them separately first. We wouldn’t have known what was reacting and what was not reacting.
-Shawn Stehlik
Revolutionary War Diary
The book I read was called “Winter of Red Snow” by Kristiana Gregory. It’s about a girl named Abigail Jane Stewart. She wrote a diary during the Revolutionary War at Valley Forge. While other units were fighting elsewhere, General George Washington and his soldiers marched by Abigail’s family and other families. Abigail’s father made shoes for the shoeless soldiers. Abigail and her older sister, Elizabeth Anne Stewart, went to the soldiers tents to wash the clothes. Some of the people helped worn out soldiers.
I chose this book because our class finished learning about the Revolutionary War in history. I wanted to read about some ones life when they were there with the soldiers. My favorite part is how the families helped the soldiers with food and quilted coats. The least favorite piece is in the diary; Abigail writes how a few of the men die.
I hope you get the chance to read this book. It is a very interesting book. -Kat Stehlik
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One Cool Kid
I’m going to tell you about Tucker Keiser and the things I learned about him. Tucker is a seventh grader and is a student in Mr. Krasomil’s class.
Tucker’s favorite song is “International Harvester” because it reminds him of his dad. Tucker has a rifle; he uses it for deer hunting. Tucker has 5 or 6 video games. His favorite one is Grand Theft Auto. Tucker doesn’t have a saddle, rope, bridle, or a whip. He has a four wheeler and a dirt bike. His favorite game in school is kickball because it’s fun. He team ropes in the summer. Tucker likes math because it’s easy. It was fun learning about Tucker!
-Jordan Cady
My Grandpa
My Grandpa, Toby Oliver, is here visiting from Denver, Colorado. He comes to my house and helps my dad calve. He has an apartment. He has no pets, but loves my dog, Daisy. He is now 82. He was in the navy during World War II. Here are some things he told me. He joined the navy because they needed people. He started August 7, 1943, and ended November 10, 1946. He was in the navy for 3 years, 3 months, and 3 days. He was on the boat LST 623. He traveled the Pacific Ocean from California to Japan. He thought it was boring and hot being on a boat a lot. He usually slept 8 hours a day. He was a signal man. He waved flags and flashed lights to give signals. He didn’t see land for 28 days once. All of the money that he earned he gave to his family. I hope you learned a lot about my grandpa. He was brave and helped save America. By Eva Oliver
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Sun
Bright, hot
Tanning, lighting, heating
Space, plants, astronauts, craters
Lighting, darkening, cycling
White, spots
Moon
By Jordan Cady
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Money can’t buy everything
Especially the
Ocean.
Certainly it won’t
Be able to change location.
By Tucker Keiser
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Horses
Big, fat, and sleek
Hops all over and neighs
Running in fields, feels like magic
K.C.
By Kat Stehlik
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Track Meet
First, I hear the pencil scratch my name on the paper.
Next, I hear the ooohs from stretching muscles.
After that, I hear the dong, bong, bosh of high jumpers knocking the bar off.
Then, I hear the thump, thump of shoes hitting the track during the race.
Soon, I hear the ropes slapping the cement.
At the end, I hear gulping and slurping as the contestants refuel.
By 4th and 5th Grades
